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Review Summary: All of a Sudden I'm lost for words. In The Earth Is Not a Cold, Dead Place, instrumental post-rock band Explosions in the Sky proved themselves as narrative masterminds. The album was huge in scope and soundscape, and it captured the listener on an emotional journey; something to stay with you for years after the CD stopped spinning. Like any worthy sequel, All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone proves that Explosions in the Sky have further broadened their horizons and expanded on their storytelling prowes. The Earth Is Not a Cold, Dead Place was breathtaking, yes, but it was one-dimensional. The instruments were beautiful and heartbreaking, and that's all that they were. On their follow-up album, Explosions in the Sky have taken their music to new atmospheric heights, and it is this that sets it apart.
Had the Texan quartet continued with the same thread woven four years previous, then All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone might have been a disappointment. Though this album still paints a rich soundscape with intricately-woven electric guitars, as before, a fresh, more atmospheric tone has taken precedent over emotion this time around. In this sense, All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone shares greater similarity with the band's 2001 album Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Die, Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Live Forever. In that, songs like "The Moon Is Down" gave a stunning sensation of being in outer space, gazing at the beauty of the universe. This feeling is regained in the ambience of tracks such as "It's Natural to Be Afraid" and "What Do You Go Home To?". This is in part thanks to the introduction of piano on this album; it is an invaluable asset to the atmosphere of the music. The instrument is mostly used to provide fluttery background textures rather than lead melodies, but when the piano is brought into the foreground (for example in the closing track "So Long, Lonesome"), it acts to further diversify band's aural toolbelt, and that's nary a bad thing.
Beyond bringing a fresh new sound, All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone brings a lot more to the table with regards to song variety, as compared with Explosions in the Sky's previous albums. For the very first time tracks vary in length from four to fourteen minutes, and each song's approach to atmosphere and narrative is unique. "Welcome, Ghosts" is an immediate rock song that wastes no time vying for your attention, whereas "It's Natural to Be Afraid" is a beautiful, slow-burning epic. "The Birth and Death of the Day" melds these sounds, whereas "So Long, Lonesome" portrays simple beauty with atmosphere to boot. All of these songs complement each other's aura perfectly, serving to make the album much greater than the sum of its parts.
I've never been an astronaut (go figure) -- not even a stargazer -- but this album takes me to outer space, and brings with it a feeling of sentiment as though I'd been as a child. All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone is a wave of nostalgia for an experience that I've never been a part of, but always dreamt that I had.
| other reviews of this album |
pixiesfanyo (3.5)
Explosions in the Sky release yet another solid release, even if it is a tad of a let down...
The Door Mouse (4)
Explosions in the sky use simple melodies to blend songs driven with heavily distorted gui...
craigy2 (4)
...
bwnstl (4)
Explosions in the Sky continues their recent trend of adding slight changes in their sound...
Displayed (2.5)
Gee, what a surprise - another post rock album...
RedMorningLight (4.5)
A beautiful album that shows us all that is right in the evolution of music. One of 2007's...
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Album Rating: 5.0
band needs more positivity. album rules.
someone please tear me away from post-rock reviews. somehow it's all i'm able to write about. i've tried to write reviews in other genres but it just comes out as a stale description of what each song sounds like, and i don't want to do track-by-track.
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
Protip: you can make italics by writing [i ]insert word here [/i ] (remember to remove the spaces). Use it for album titles - makes the writing seem a whole lot neater.
Anyway, review is solid. The band doesn't really do it for me - actually, nothing post-rock produces ever seems to - though. Also this line: "Beyond bringing a fresh new sound, All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone brings a lot more to the table with regards to song variety, as compared with Explosions in the Sky's previous albums" I disagree with completely. Every album of theirs seems to follow the same shimmering-guitar-crescendo formula.
But maybe I'm just not listening hard enough haha.
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i think i realize a big reason why i cant get into this band anymore. their music feels too calculated to me now. there's a lack of rawness to it (and i don't necessarily mean just from a production standpoint). it just isn't real enough.
good review though.
| | | Album Rating: 5.0
cheers for the tips. i tried to do the italics thing you mentioned but when i go to edit a review it gives me an error. ill try again
later. i can appreciate that some people dont like the band like i do, but i totally feel like their music has a natural flow to it. i
feel like their music (except take care) is the least calculated of any band. they dont try too hard to make things unique and
interesting, they just play their instruments and see where it takes them. like some bands will make sure they kick in a fancy
beat regularly to keep things interesting or whatever, but when eits do a crescendo, its always because its been naturally
building to it, not because its been forced or calculated. it seems like when their music shifts tone, its timed perfectly with
when i want it to shift tone too, and when it feels natural. for example in the only moment we were alone there is a moment
where it suddenly becomes quite melancholic, and it fits perfectly with where i felt the arc of the song going. i guess if you
werent in tune with the flow of the songs then there really wouldnt be much to like about this. thats not meant to sound
arrogant or pretentious or anything, its just that sometimes theres a piece of music that happens to resonate with someone so
powerfully, but if someone else doesnt get that same vibe then it will fall flat. with other bands, like do make say think, for
example. some of their music is funky and catchy, so its objectively enjoyable to most people. eits music relies very heavily on
connecting emotionally, as it isnt otherwise very creative or catchy, so if you dont connect to it, theres nothing to like. your
hand in mine is one of there worst songs for me, not because it isnt good but because it doesnt feel like it has a narrative flow
to it. to other people its their best song because its the most pretty, and all eits are is a pretty band to those people.
and irving, second track is mostly rock, third track mostly ambient. last track all pretty piano. sure its not incredibly varied
compared to other bands, but compared to their previous album where every song had the same style and formula, this
album does have more on offer for variety.
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
irving thinks hes a pro now
Sure I do.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
Good review, but the jelly doughnut bit was unnecessary haha. Awesome album though
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EITS is doing a re-run of last night's coachella set on youtube. sounds really good
www.youtube.com/coachella
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
fuck they are good live
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great review pos
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
yeah that coachella set ruled. and nice review.
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
Good review man, I like the summary... that's pretty much what good post rock should do, take you on that trip. I think this is their best album and would love to see them live
| | | Album Rating: 5.0
haha i couldnt help but sneak in the jelly doughnut thing because it happened to me the other day!! cheers for the kind words people
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
Catastrophe and the Cure might be the best EITS song
| | | Album Rating: 5.0
not quite for me but it's definitely awesome. mine would be a choice of: the moon is down, first breath after coma, the only moment we were alone and it's natural to be afraid. human qualities comes close too.
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
oh shit, how did i not see this earlier? fantastic album, nice review too
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
So far I can't really get into these guys' other records
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
this is the only one ive heard that is more than a 3.5
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solid review
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Solid review [2]
TEINACDP is a classic.
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
yoyo i could see you diggin this
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